Ascending Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ

Mt. Lemmon:

This was a solo and unsupported ride. 

Ridiculous wind. Both going up and descending. ...

(Ascent) http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1966285

Pretty much endless 4-9 degree incline the whole way. Above 6,000 feet the wind was whipping along the sheer cliffs and pocket clefts on the switchbacks. Stopped for a bathroom break once, got stung by a bee that was out of control in the wind, had to put on a windbreaker about 30 minutes before I reached the summit. 

 

Getting to the mountaintop town of Summer Haven I looked for the road to the very top of the mountain (observatory) but the road names changed up there to `boutique' names and I decided not to just troll up and down roads, esp. given the wind and low temps. 

 

Ride/elapsed times were good, esp given the wind.

Again, the wind was dangerous (of course) but I was careful. There were times I broke out in laughing fits ... it was that bizarre.

(Descent) http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1966283

The drive home. 

 

I decided that I wasn't getting any sleep yesterday so I packed up and left Tucson at 9pm expecting to be home by 2am at the latest. Fifteen miles north, on I-10, I ran into a ten mile traffic backup due to a crash by several cars and trucks that killed three people. News reports said that the accident was due to sandstorm obscuring vision around 8pm. Sat in my car for 90 minutes until the site was cleared. Then, when I got to the exit ramp from I-10 to I-17 it was closed off while they were doing service. Had to negotiate Phoenix side streets for another hour while I found my way on to I-17.

So ... Mt. Lemmon is off the `to-do' list at this point.